European energy leader to speak at Virginia Tech

Hans B. (Teddy) Puttgen, inaugural director of the Energy Center at Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne (EPFL), the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, will speak at Virginia Tech on Friday, April 13, at 2:30 p.m. in 3100 Torgersen Hall, as part of the speaker series sponsored by the Deans' Task Force on Energy Security and Sustainability.

The Energy Center is a university-wide, cross-disciplinary organization that coordinates all research and development activities on campus related to energy. EPFL has a broad energy portfolio, ranging from electric power production, distribution, and end use to controlled fusion; from hydropower generation to photovoltaics; and from building technologies to thermal turbo-machinery. The Energy Center also aims to incorporate research and development related to the economics of energy and public policy.

Puttgen chairs energy systems management at EPFL He is also the immediate past president of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Power Engineering Society, a member of the Governing Board and the Executive Committee, and a recipient of the IEEE third millennium medal.

Before arriving at EPFL, he was Georgia Power Professor and vice chair for external affairs in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech, where he launched and directed the National Electric Energy Test, Research, and Application Center (NEETRAC). With an annual budget in excess of $5 million, NEETRAC focuses on research and test projects in electric power delivery systems and apparatus.

Until his arrival at EPFL, Puttgen served as president and CEO of Georgia Tech Lorraine, the European campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology located in Metz, France. Created in 1990, Georgia Tech Lorraine has become a model for cooperation between American and European universities for engineering education and research.

Puttgen graduated from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne with the Ingénieur Diplomé degree in electrical engineering. He holds graduate degrees in business administration and management from the University of Lausanne. His Ph.D. in electrical engineering with an emphasis in electric power is from the University of Florida.

Learn about energy research at Virginia Tech. For more information about the speaker series, contact Ben Sovacool at (540) 231-5196.